Organisers of a Norfolk Christmas lights festival have hailed the event an all-round success, in spite of an incident that saw Santa thrown from his sleigh when the two horses pulling it bolted.

The children's lantern parade at the Reepham Festival of Light. PICTURE: Jamie Honeywood

Judy Holland, of Reepham Festival of Light, said that very few people attending were aware of the accident, which happened at the beginning of the evening when a leash harnessing the horses to the carriage snapped, throwing Santa and two other people to the ground.

The horses were quickly found and, after a check-up by medics, Santa went on to hand out presents in his grotto.

Santa�s horse carriage crashed against the church wall after the horses became distressed and bolted at the Reepham Festival of Light. PICTURE: Jamie Honeywood

“Everything went ahead as planned,” Mrs Holland said. “We had the most wonderful procession from the church, the children’s lantern parade was as magical and spectacular as ever, we had 35 stalls and we were very well supported by the people of Reepham and surrounding district.”

Mrs Holland thanked all those who had supported last week’s festival, including a team of organisers made up of volunteers from local groups including Reepham Town Team, Reepham Rotary Club, Reepham Lions, the town’s Chamber of Commerce and St Mary’s Church.